They're Our Secret Santas
by Daisy Bokoblin
Summary: When it seems no one in the mansion is really getting into the Christmas Spirit, will Toon Link and Ness be able to bring joy and cheer to them? And why is Toon Link acting so strange when Ness asks him why they won't tell anyone what they're doing? Originally for Smash King24's Christmas Contest 2014, but I had to drop out. Still going to finish this fanfic though! :D
1. Chapter 1

The library of the huge building was mostly empty. Towering bookcases loomed over the room, casting strange, flickering shadows due to the fireplace housing a roaring, bright fire. The floor to ceiling windows let in moonlight as well, the spiraling snow outside dotting the thickly carpeted floor with little gray shadows. It had been snowing all night, evidenced by the huge piles of the thick, cold material pushing against the glass windows.

As said before though, the library of the Smash Mansion was only _mostly _empty. By the spittling fire were multiple plush armchairs and one cozy couch, all of these seats occupied. Toon Link sat snuggled in one of the soft, green, high backed armchairs, listening intently to the only adult speaker in the room.

"...And that's how the Grinch stole, and then saved Christmas."

The fire crackled in the background as Princess Zelda of Hyrule shut the storybook softly, then lay it on the couch beside her. She was surrounded by all the children smashers (along with a few Pokemon), who'd all come to hear the classic story of the strange being who lived in the mountains and hated the 'Who's down in Whoville'.

"So?" Zelda smiled warmly. "Did you all enjoy the story?"

Small, quiet murmurs of approval were voiced, the story was just okay to most of the children. Except for one.

"Wow Zelda!" Toon Link beamed, an awed look on his face. "That was awesome!"

The princess smiled. "I agree." Looking to the mantle over the fireplace, Zelda noticed the time was fast ticking away. "But now it's bedtime," she announced, earning half hearted protests from her small audience.

"But Zelda," Lucas slowly yawned, "we're not tired!"

The Hylian smirked. "Of course not, Lucas, but I think it's best to go to bed early and respect the decision of your elders. I mean, Santa is always watching!"

At the mention of old Saint Nick, Toon Link immediately perked up. He always loved the concept of Santa Claus ever since he came to the Smash Mansion and learned of him. Though his heart told him Santa wasn't real, the childish part of him wished he was. A man who knew the longings of all, knew if they were naughty or nice, and was able to give them exactly what they wanted? If he was real, against all odds, Toon Link had a deep respect for his work. The man strove to make everyone happy.

Standing from the warm seat, the small Hylian suddenly felt very tired as he began trudging groggily to the old oak doors leading out of the library, the others already leaving. As he shuffled past the huge bookcases, he felt a sort of awe. He personally thought that even if one had all the time in the world, it was still not very likely they'd have enough to dedicate to reading every dusty tome, every leather bound novel. Though it always surprised people when he told them, the library was his favorite place. The peaceful silence that always permeated the air, the smell of old and new inked pages. Though he all he could read was the Hylian script from his era when he first arrived, he had tried his best to learn the strange languages the books here were written in, such as Japanese and English, and now could read both quite well.

Now traversing the halls of Smash Mansion, his mind began wandering. Christmas was coming soon, and though Toon Link was excited for it, it seemed as though no one else was. Sure, there were sparse decorations lying about, but most of them were small and rather pitiful. No one seemed to be enjoying this holiday season. As the cat eyed Hylian passed an open door, his gaze froze on the person in the room.

One of the nicest smashers Toon Link ever had the pleasure of knowing was sitting in her shared bedroom, looking particularly gloomy. Though the young boy knew he was supposed to be going to the room he shared with one of his friends, Ness, he found himself stopping outside of her door and clearing his throat awkwardly. Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom looked up from her lap, and upon seeing Toon Link standing there put a smile on her face. Toon knew it was fake, though.

"Hi, Toon!" Peach grinned, the most forced grin he'd ever seen.

"Hey Peach," the small Hylian smiled slightly back, concerned for the princess. "What's up?"

Peach stood, leaving a slight indent in the soft, pink sheets on her bed. "Oh, nothing!" She walked over to the doorway where her small Hylian friend stood, a graceful air about her even with her sad demeanor.

"Peach," Toon Link looked up at her with a knowing look. "I saw you were upset. What's going on?"

The princess of the toadstools wrung her gloved hands, debating whether she should tell the young boy and possibly ruin his mood as well. Knowing that he wouldn't leave if she didn't, however, Peach sighed and looked down at him. "It's just that, well, no one seems to be having fun this Christmas. I've tried decorating, but, well…"

Toon Link nodded. "I saw."

The princess grimaced. "Are they really that bad?"

The boy realized he just insulted his friend, and quickly tried to fix his mistake. "Oh, no! They're not that bad! I just-"

"It's fine, Toon Link," Peach turned and walked to a desk pushed up against the wall, plopping on a wooden chair placed in front of it. "I know they're awful. I just- I find myself decorating based on how the people around me feel. I don't really know why." Peach looked to Toon Link, a small but genuine smile on her face. "When all the people here aren't really in the holiday spirit, my decorations show that. But when everyone has that feeling of goodwill in their hearts, and they show it, watch out!" The small Hylian and princess chuckled lightly at that line, and Peach continued. "My decorations reflect the people around me. So, I guess you can tell how everyone here feels, then?"

Toon Link nodded. "I could already tell, I didn't even need the decorations." Realizing how long he had been standing there, talking to Peach, he decided to head to bed. "Well, I have to go. Sorry Peach, I wish there was something I could do to help your mood."

As he walked away from her door, he could hear her softly sigh, as though he wasn't meant to really hear it, "You could get everyone here in the Christmas spirit."

Toon Link smiled softly, walking down the halls. _I would if I could Peach._

The walk back to his shared room was, after the Peach encounter, uneventful. When he entered the decent sized room, he noticed Ness had long been there, as he was already in pajamas and sitting on his red bed sheets, playing a game of solitaire with his personal deck of cards.

"Took you long enough," the psychic boy didn't even look up from his game as Toon Link walked past both of their beds and went into their personal bathroom. Every pair of smashers had one. He left the door open, as Ness's bed was on the same wall as the door, making it impossible for him to see inside the bathroom while sitting on his bed.

"I wasn't planning on running into Peach," the Hylian called out, changing into his forest green pajamas.

"You ran in- aha!" Ness gave a small cry of triumph upon finding the right card, then finished his sentence, "into Peach?"

"Well, not exactly." Toon Link began brushing his teeth. "I wash jusht pashing by her room, when I shaw her really upshet! I had to ashk her what wash wrong!"

"English please!" The boy playing with cards was used to Toon Link trying to talk while brushing his teeth, but he still could never decipher what he said.

A spitting sound came from the bathroom, followed by water running and the small Hylian entering the bedroom thereafter. "I said, I was just passing by her room, when I saw her really upset. I had to ask her what was wrong."

"Ahh," Ness gave a noise of understanding, shuffling his cards after losing. "I see. So, why was she upset?"

Toon Link plopped onto his green covers, clutching the stuffed pig he'd gotten for his birthday, 'Mr. Piggums,' close. "Christmas."

"Why'd she be upset about Christmas? Christmas is a happy time!"

"Well, she's not so much upset by the holiday itself as she is that no one is really getting into the Christmas spirit."

Ness looked up from his newly started solitaire game, "Really? I didn't notice."

Toon Link rolled his eyes, "That's because you're not really getting into it much yourself."

Suddenly, Ness was over on his roommate's bed, pounding his pillow mercilessly onto the Hylian. "Take that back!"

Toon Link laughed, groping for his own weapon so he could fight back. As soon as he found it, it turned into a rough pillow fight, which turned into a wrestling match, which Toon Link won no problem. Ness was more focused on his psychic powers than his muscle.

The psychic boy in question was pinned to the bed, Toon Link holding him down. "I win."

"Fine, fine. Now get offa me!"

Both boys were laughing as Ness picked up his pillow and leapt onto his bed, resuming the previously forgotten card game. "So, back to the problem. No Christmas spirit 'round here."

Toon Link nodded, and Ness shrugged, "I dunno what to do. You got any bright ideas?"

The Hylian boy situated himself on his bed to consider the problem. What to do to restore the Christmas spirit? After a minute of thinking, he settled on a solution.

"Ness?"

The boy looked up, "Yeah?"

"I've got a plan." As the Hylian explained the genius of his plan, Ness nodded.

"Perfect," Ness smiled, picking up his cards and placing them on his nightside table. "We can start tomorrow. After all, Christmas is a week away. Plenty of time to finish."

Toon Link nodded. "Tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

Toon Link lay in his bed, soft green sheets enveloping his small body. He couldn't sleep. He'd tried most everything to find the beautiful escape of unconsciousness, but the things Peach had said kept floating around in his head. He couldn't stop thinking of her dilemma, even though he and Ness were going to try and fix it tomorrow.

Turning, the Hylian looked out the medium sized window on his side of the room, situated so he could easily see the road leading away from the Smash Mansion. Snow spun gracefully outside, dancing to a tune the young boy could not hear. Whatever the song was, Toon Link thought it must have been one of the most beautiful musical pieces in existence. Every tiny flake danced to the unheard beat, some joining together to waltz their way to the ball below them, where the snow had already begun gathering.

Even with these images of peacefulness sliding past outside his window, Toon Link still felt wide awake. On nights like this, when sleep was unattainable, Toon had a little ritual. The bed groaned slightly as the weight of the young boy was lifted from it. Toon Link's bare feet felt the cold of the hardwood floor seeping into them as he tiptoed to the bedroom door, cracking it slowly. Luckily, the doors were always kept well oiled, allowing for a soundless opening. Peering both ways down the long, moonlit hallway, the Hylian silently shut the door and slunk towards his favorite room of the mansion.

As he pulled the oak library doors open slowly, warm light spilled into the halls, and Toon Link cast an irregularly long shadow behind him. The door was shut silently behind him, and bare feet padded quietly on the plush carpeting as he approached a bookcase close enough to the fire to see the books on it. Still roaring brightly in the stone fireplace, the fire was left lit overnight for some reason unknown to Toon Link. He was grateful for it though, for without it he wouldn't be able to go to the library and read at night.

Quickly scanning the shelves, the Hylian finally settled on a book he hadn't looked at before and carried it to the very armchair he had been sitting in earlier, when Zelda had read the story of the Grinch. As Toon Link looked at the cover of the book, he noticed there wasn't a title. In fact, he couldn't find the name of the book anywhere on the outside. While Toon Link opened to the first page hoping to find a title, he instead found a cloud of dust that flew up from the weathered pages and into his lungs, causing a mini coughing fit. Once he'd regained his breath and his eyes stopped watering, he looked down to page one.

All that was there was a singular sentence, too long to be the book's name.

'But when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does.'

"What?" Toon Link stared at the singular sentence, forgetting about his quest to find the title of the book. What did the sentence mean? Why was it all alone on the first page? Why did it talk about hands? If your right hand did something, wouldn't your left hand know about it? They're both connected to one body! Also, how can a hand be sentient to even know what it's counterpart is doing? Then again, Master Hand had a brain. At least, it seemed like he had one. Crazy Hand, now that was debatable.

Footsteps that weren't his own echoing through the huge room brought Toon Link out of his thoughts, and he realized he would get in so much trouble if found out of bed. Quick as a wink, the book was shoved back on the closest shelf and the boy was back in the moonlit hallways, running as quickly and quietly as possible to his bedroom. Reaching his room's door, he pulled it open and slipped in; within seconds he was wrapped in his forest green sheets, faking sleep in case someone heard him.

As he faked sleep though, he found himself actually slipping slowly into unconsciousness. Not five minutes after his mad bolt for his bedroom, Toon Link had finally found his coveted sleep.

* * *

><p>"Ness. Ness. Nessssss." Toon Link hissed, hoping his friend would hear and wake up. Sunlight spilled into the boy's bedroom, and the Hylian was standing by the edge of Ness's bed, trying to wake him nicely, but still wake him. They needed to get started on the plan soon, or there wouldn't be enough time to complete it before Christmas.<p>

The psychic boy didn't seem to hear Toon, though, for he just rolled onto his side and continued sleeping. Oh well, Toon Link thought, you've brought this upon yourself. Grabbing Ness by the shoulders, the Hylian began shaking him wildly.

"AGH! Stop, stop!" Ness began hitting Toon Link on his arms until he stopped shaking, and glared angrily. "I'm up."

The Hylian smirked in success as he watched Ness get out of bed grudgingly and trudge into the bathroom. He'd woken 'the beast.' Now all he had to do was get 'the beast' to remember the plan and help him carry it out without doing more harm than good.

Once Ness was dressed and washed up, he rejoined his roommate in the bedroom. "So… What was the plan again?"

Sighing irritatedly, Toon Link looked at his friend. "You really forgot?"

"Well, we really didn't talk about it much last night. Besides, I was tired."

"I guess. Anyways, the plan was to find out what everyone here wants for Christmas, and get it to them. You know, like what Santa does. That'll bring the Christmas spirit back!" The Hylian smiled happily.

Ness nodded. "Okay then, all we have to do is ask them what they want-"

"No," Toon Link interrupted quickly, "we can't just ask them. They'll never tell us what they really want. They're adults."

The psychic considered his friend's words, then shrugged. "I guess. Well, if we can't ask them, how will we figure out what they want?"

At this, the Hylian smirked. "This, my dear Ness, is when we consult the biggest gossip of the mansion."

Ness paled, then swallowed loudly. "You don't mean…?"

"Yep," Toon Link looked to the closed bedroom door. "We're going straight to the top."

* * *

><p>Toon Link and Ness stood outside of a oak door, one that looked just like every other bedroom door in the mansion. Only, this door led to the room of the curse, the very bane of most of the smasher's existence.<p>

While Master Hand was the head of the mansion, he was not the one to go to if one wanted information on their fellow smashers. No, for information like that, one had to go to the head gossip of the mansion. And they weren't even one of the smashers.

Gulping nervously, Toon Link raised a clenched fist apprehensively, then brought it down on the door quickly before he could change his mind. Three knocks echoed in the room beyond, before footsteps were heard and the door swung open slowly. Toon Link's older counterpart stood before the children, leaning against the doorframe tiredly. Link was still in his pajamas, a black shirt dotted in bright yellow stars with matching pants, and it was quite obvious that Ness and Toon had woken him up.

"Whataya want?" The Hero of Twilight yawned slowly. "It's 7:30! Gosh, everyone in this mansion's an early bird. Marth isn't even in his bed anymore."

Ness looked around the halls nervously, as if afraid someone was watching them, before whispering hurriedly. "We want to see her."

At the mention of 'her,' Link noticeably blanched. "Why? Committing suicide by extreme annoyance?"

Toon shook his head. "She has some information we need. Just let us have a little time with her, and we'll get out of your hair."

The oldest of the three smashers seemed to be debating with himself if he should let them, before stepping back and gesturing for them to enter the room. As soon as they were in, he quickly stepped out into the hallway to leave them alone with her.

"She's in my closet. Be quick, lest you fall to her pestering!" With that last warning, Link shut the door, leaving Toon Link and Ness in the shared room of both the hero of twilight and the prince of Altea.

Silently, the two walked to the closet of Link and opened it, being greeted by a large array of colored tunics and matching hats. One thing caught Toon's attention though, a small glass bottle sitting in the very back corner on the floor. He grabbed it and, after a second of apprehension, wondering if it was worth it, he popped the cork out of the slender glass container.

"Ahhh, finally!" A tinkling voice rejoiced. "That bottle was getting stuffy!" Navi quickly flew out of the container, and zoomed around the decent sized bedroom, stretching her wings. Ness and Toon could only watch, both wondering if they had just made the biggest mistakes of their short lives.


End file.
